Joystick for publishing managers
Research: Readerscan is set to revolutionize the newspaper industry. Behind it lies a new type of usage analysis.
Research Readerscan is set to revolutionize the press industry. In the tranquil town of Würzburg, the future of newspapers has already begun. When the Mainpost journalists start their computers in the morning, the first thing the editorial server presents them with is the usage results of yesterday's edition. Reading quotas in real time, so to speak. Some colleagues won't want to know exactly how their work is being received by the public. Especially as the first general findings of the so-called Readerscan were sobering: only 6.8 percent of the readers in 18 local splits read the magazine.
of the 450000 readers of this daily newspaper.
Editor-in-chief Michael Reinhard makes no secret of the fact that the measurement tool developed by Swiss publishing consultant Carlo Imboden and first implemented at the Holtzbrinck paper in April initially triggered "the usual defensive reflex" among his crew. After the first wave of surveys, however, this suddenly turned into a motivational boost. It then became clear that readers were investing 20 percent more time in the Mainpost after the newspaper was reorganized on the basis of the Readerscan data.
A level playing field at last
What sounds like a ratings nightmare to some journalists is the fulfillment of a long-cherished dream for publishing managers: finally, hard figures that can be used to make newspapers and magazines systematically more relevant and therefore - so the justified hope - more profitable! Figures that create a level playing field with the electronic competition and that can be used to appeal to advertisers' economic sense rather than their gut feeling.
But what concrete insights does the new wonder weapon provide in the battle for the favor and attention of readers and advertisers? Here are the most important ones:
1. due to divergent interests, the local section is used less intensively than expected.
2. longer reports or features are read if they are thematically relevant.
3. topics are fundamentally much more important than authors.
4. comments are perceived significantly better next to the article in question than on an opinion page.
5 Title and image should correspond as far as possible, i.e. not trigger any "cognitive dissonance".
Sounds a bit like the rules of a journalist's handbook, doesn't it? Yes and no, say Reinhard and Imboden in unison, because Readerscan also shows that readers - contrary to popular opinion - also want to find news topics in their newspaper and, incidentally, hardly differentiate between editorial and agency texts. The main thing is that the news value is right.
These controversial findings at Mainpost and in Holtzbrinck management are of course grist to the mill of the free and commuter papers. However, Imboden's order book is currently filled by established newspapers. The latest new customer is the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, but an inquiry from Bild and Springer is also said to have already been received.
No wonder the former Ernst & Young consultant recently founded Readerscan Deutschland GmbH. The long-term goal is to franchise the process in
Europe and then the USA. If "Mr. Pressecontrol" is to be believed, there are not only inquiries from the UK and Italy, but "also from developing countries". Does this mean Switzerland?
Hard facts: The Readerscan can be used to determine exactly which articles in a print medium receive which attention.
An electronic text markerThe reader scan data is collected using a pen that looks like a cross between a clinical thermometer and a Stabilo Boss, but is ultimately
is just a hand scanner. By briefly tapping the pen, between 100 and 150 test subjects mark the entry and exit points of each text they read. After reading, the pen is placed in a docking station, which transmits the time data to a central computer. Using a matching process, the computer determines which articles were read by whom, for how long and up to where. A study using this equipment, which runs in several waves, costs between CHF 12,000,000 and CHF 24,000,000. (oc)
Oliver Classen
of the 450000 readers of this daily newspaper.
Editor-in-chief Michael Reinhard makes no secret of the fact that the measurement tool developed by Swiss publishing consultant Carlo Imboden and first implemented at the Holtzbrinck paper in April initially triggered "the usual defensive reflex" among his crew. After the first wave of surveys, however, this suddenly turned into a motivational boost. It then became clear that readers were investing 20 percent more time in the Mainpost after the newspaper was reorganized on the basis of the Readerscan data.
A level playing field at last
What sounds like a ratings nightmare to some journalists is the fulfillment of a long-cherished dream for publishing managers: finally, hard figures that can be used to make newspapers and magazines systematically more relevant and therefore - so the justified hope - more profitable! Figures that create a level playing field with the electronic competition and that can be used to appeal to advertisers' economic sense rather than their gut feeling.
But what concrete insights does the new wonder weapon provide in the battle for the favor and attention of readers and advertisers? Here are the most important ones:
1. due to divergent interests, the local section is used less intensively than expected.
2. longer reports or features are read if they are thematically relevant.
3. topics are fundamentally much more important than authors.
4. comments are perceived significantly better next to the article in question than on an opinion page.
5 Title and image should correspond as far as possible, i.e. not trigger any "cognitive dissonance".
Sounds a bit like the rules of a journalist's handbook, doesn't it? Yes and no, say Reinhard and Imboden in unison, because Readerscan also shows that readers - contrary to popular opinion - also want to find news topics in their newspaper and, incidentally, hardly differentiate between editorial and agency texts. The main thing is that the news value is right.
These controversial findings at Mainpost and in Holtzbrinck management are of course grist to the mill of the free and commuter papers. However, Imboden's order book is currently filled by established newspapers. The latest new customer is the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, but an inquiry from Bild and Springer is also said to have already been received.
No wonder the former Ernst & Young consultant recently founded Readerscan Deutschland GmbH. The long-term goal is to franchise the process in
Europe and then the USA. If "Mr. Pressecontrol" is to be believed, there are not only inquiries from the UK and Italy, but "also from developing countries". Does this mean Switzerland?
Hard facts: The Readerscan can be used to determine exactly which articles in a print medium receive which attention.
An electronic text markerThe reader scan data is collected using a pen that looks like a cross between a clinical thermometer and a Stabilo Boss, but is ultimately
is just a hand scanner. By briefly tapping the pen, between 100 and 150 test subjects mark the entry and exit points of each text they read. After reading, the pen is placed in a docking station, which transmits the time data to a central computer. Using a matching process, the computer determines which articles were read by whom, for how long and up to where. A study using this equipment, which runs in several waves, costs between CHF 12,000,000 and CHF 24,000,000. (oc)
Oliver Classen
